Don’t be fooled by the score. This was a war. Immaculata had a one-point lead with 3:o5 left. Then James McNally (28 points, 9 rebounds) took over.

Here’s why Bridgewater won:1) McNally is operating on his own level. In addition to hiting 15-of-18 free throws, including his last 8, McNally assisted two huge fast-break baskets in the game-deciding run.2) Senior guard Jared Rothbard played with mono. It took big-time guts to do this. The Panthers probably would not have won this game without him. His ball-handling against Lata’s pressure was huge. And his presence gave his teammates an emotional lift.3) Immaculata ran out of big bodies. All three starting forwards fouled out. Losing Brent Freid with 3:05 left was the biggest blow. The Immaculata faithful feel like they got a bad whistle. It should be taken into account that Bridgewater forward Andy August fouled out before any Spartan. I thought generally the officiating was poor. In a championship letting, the referees should err on the side of letting guys play. That did not happen here. There were 55 free throws attempted in this game. Way too many for 32 minutes of action. I’m not saying it directly affected the outcome. But it did make for a choppy game.4) Bridgewater played excellent defense. The Panther guards took away the outside shot, and their big men were ready to help on the drives. Classic fundamentals at work.5) Bridgewater has Immaculata’s number. The Panthers know how to close out games. Immaculata did almost everything right here: The press worked well for the most part, the guards attacked the rim when the shots weren’t falling, the rebounds were close to even (24-22 in favor of BR). But Bridgewater has a killer instinct and a late-game confidence that all true dynasties possess.6) Immaculata brings out the best in Bridgewater. That’s what rivals do, and this has become a great rivalry. Tim Ortelli said it was a local version of Duke-North Carolina. I agree. It’s been great fun watching these teams go at it over the past two years. Five of the six meetings have been nail-biters (the lone exception was Bridgewater’s matter-of-fact win at home last year). This may change because both programs are graduating heart-and-soul seniors. I hope it doesn’t. This has been good for high school basketball.

MIDDLESEX COUNTYPiscataway 59, Cardinal McCarrick 50

I didn’t see this game, but I’m surprised. Didn’t think Piscataway could put up this many points.

In the big picture, it’s quite shocking that Piscataway won the GMCT title. The Chiefs won four games all of last year, they were the sixth seed in this thing, they got clobbered by Immaculata and Bridgewater in the Stapleton Tournament back in December.

No question, this is a down year for the GMC. It doesn’t diminish a great job by the Chiefs and coach Guy Jensen. There’s a reason for the adage “defense wins championships.”

UNION COUNTYLinden 63, St. Patrick’s 51

Wow! I called a close game, I thought Linden would be right there, but no one outside of the Tigers locker room thought it would happen like this. Great, great job by Phil Colicchio, Desmond Wade and company.

It serves St. Patrick’s right for jet-setting around the country to be on ESPN in the middle of the tournament, and having the semifinal dates rearranged to accomodate their national schedule.

I wish every recruiting “guru” from rivals.com and all the other national services was in the Dunn Center for this game. There’s something to be said for team play, gritty defense, fundamentals, basketball IQ and heart. Linden has all of those things, even if they don’t have a top 100 recruit.

Word of caution for Linden: If I’m not mistaken, the Tigers crapped out of the state tournament early the last time they beat St. Pat’s in the UCT final. It’s going to be a big comedown next week. Will the Tigers get it back in high gear in time for the brutal North 2, Group IV section?